Tube-cleaner.



S. D. SARGEANT.

TUBE CLEANER.

Arrmon'zon FILED rma. 2a; 1911.

Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

E y n By y vmole-NHS v NITED sTATEs `rArErrr OFFICE. A

"STEPHEN D. SARGEANL or cHAnLrsToN, soUTH cAnoLINA, AssIeNoR or lTwo- THIRDs To JOHN F; RILEY, or CHARLESTON, soUTH CAROLINA.`

Turn-CLEANER.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN D. tAR-v enANT, a. citizen of the United States, and a residentv ot Charleston, in the county of Charleston and State of South Carolina, have made certain ne\v vand useful Improvements in 'lube-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to4 improvements in tube cleaners, especially those tubes used in 'locomotive boilers, and it consists inthe combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a device which 'will .render it unnecessary to take out the brick arches'for cleaning the' tubes, which arches have to vbe rreplaced subsequent to 'the cleaning operation.

A furtherobject of my 'invention is'vto provide a cleaner which may be operated by one hand, and in whicha valve for admitting or cutting oil compressed air may be manipulated by mere pressure of the fingers of the hand which holds the device without shifting the positionof the hand. Y

A further object of my invention is to provide a .flue cleaner capable of immediate use on vtubes of varying size vwithout any need of adjusting the parts of the cleaner.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the-following specification, and the novel features 'of the device will be par; ticularly pointedA out in the appended claims. l

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this apgure 1 is a side view showin -one embodimentofmy invention, and F1g; -2 is an enlarged central longitudinal section et'v the device showing its application to a tube.

Referring' now particularly to Fig. 2, I have shown therein a hollow rod A, which A' is threaded at 'one end as shown at B, and

which is closed atA the o posite end with the extension. of the sma l. air vopenings C;4

Near these openings -is anl annular flange D.

The-threaded .end By of the.l tube or hollow rod A is provided with atapered valve seat vE arranged to receive theend of a valve Fp Thisfvalve is, dis o'sed ina valve casing G,

which is .threa ed internally to t the lthreaded end B of the tube A. :The casing G has a lateral extension' H which lis bent 5.5 in thefor'm of a curve as shown the, draw- ASpecification. of Letters Patent. AppIicationled February 23, 1911. Serial No. 610,426.

ings, .and which'constitutes a handle for' manipulating the device as well asanfinlet tube for the compressed air. In order to attain this latter object', the handle is -provided with apassage /L and the end of the handle .is provided with a threaded opening 11,2 in which the end of a flexible hseK may be secured. The valve casing G isprovided with' a cylindrical bore g in which the valve F is arranged lto slide, the valve being held normally against. itsseat E by means of a spiral spring L. The valve stem f2 extends Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

through an opening in the 'end of the valve casing and bears at its yend a gripping mem- 'ber M. This grip member is curved, as

shown-in the drawings, and is arranged to extend into la recess k3 on the inner side of the handle H. Arranged to slide on the tube A is' a tapered plug P having a recess p in its larger end arranged to receive the end of a spiral spring' S, which surrounds the'tube A, and which` bears upon the plug at one. end, and upon the end of the valve casing Gr at the other.

From the foregoing description .of the various parts of the. device, the operation Ithereof may be'readily understood. When itis desired to clean the tubes, the hose K` is adjusted -to lthe device in the-,manner shown in Fig. 1 and the opposite end is connected with a supply of compressedv air (not shown) The'spring L, as stated, normallyholds the valve F, so as to shut ot communication,between the interior of the handle H and the` interior a of the tube A. The plug P is placed in the open end of. a

. tube such as that shown at T in Fig. 2, and

eifectually closesthe end of the tube. The fingers now close upon the grip member M,

1s pushed in as far as it will go. The plug thereby opening the valve F, and permitting the compressed air to enter the hollow tube A, as vshown by the arrows in Fig. 2. Further Vpressure of the handle inwardly will compress the spring Sbut will permit 4the deliveryend 'of the tube Atov pass farthe"` into' the large tube T, so that the air may be deliver'edthr'ough the openng'C at various points. If the next set of tubes to be cleaned` are larger than the r'st set,- it is only necessary to push the tapered plug P.

until it closes the opening ofthe tube to be cleaned when. the same .operation is ref peated.

The device is 01|?A comparatively light lweight, and may be made of metal such as iron lor brass. It` will be noted that compressed air is used, and, therefore the handle can serve as an inletmember for admitting the air into the tube A. The use of compressed air, of course, would not heat the handle. This is an important feature of this device. Where steam is used the handle cannot serve as the inlet member without the provision of some nonconducting material. In my device, I do away with the necessity of nonconducting material, while at the same time providing a tool which is more compact in that it has few parts. It can also be more readily manipulated than if it were provided with a handle, and also an auxiliary inlet tube.

l. In a tube cleaner, a hollow rod threaded at one end and provided with delivery openings at the other end, a handle for said rod, said hollow handle having a bore arranged to receive the threaded end of said hollow rod, a valve disposed in said bore and arranged to close the end of said hollow rod,

a tapered plug loosely mounted on said hollow rod, and a grip member disposed adjacent the grip portion of. said handle for operating said valve.

2. In a iue cleaner, a hollow rod threaded at one end and provided with delivery openings at the other end.7 hollow handle provided with a bore arranged to receive said hollow rod, said hollow handle being curved to provide a grip portion and having a recess, a valve disposed in the bore of said handle, a spring for normally holding said valve against the end of said hollow rod, a valve stem, a gripping member carried by said valve stem and arranged to extend into the recess in said hollow handle, a tapered plug loosely disposed on said hollow rod and provided with a recess in its larger end, and a coiled spring disposed on said hollow rod and arranged to bear at one end on said handle and at the other on said plug.

STEPHEN D. SARGEANT. Witnesses:

H. J. MITCHELL, W. G. PATTERSON. 

